Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased a semi adult red bull pair 8 months ago and noticed then that the female acted a bit funny at times(corkscrewing her head slightly), but since she was an eating machine, etc, just figured it was nothing. Just recently the problem has gotten severe to the point where she can't control her head. She used to jump out at food items, now I have to hold the rat right at her mouth.

Her head and maybe 3 inches below appears to have little control, if any. It reminds me of when you sleep on an arm or leg wrong, wake up, and have no muscular/nervous control over that body part. Her head is almost always cocked to the side or flopped over. She still eats though.

Any suggestions? Anyone seen this before?

Thanks!

That sounds like a problem with the otolith organ on one side of the snake's head.

You should take it to a vet for a checkup, it could have an infection.

Can it be fixed? Will it kill the snake eventually?

Thanks!

It all depends on the problem. If an infection, then it'll likely be curable with quick action. There are many, many other possibilities however. To name a few in no particular order would be neurological disease, trauma, tumour or cyst, ...

A second the vet visit; good luck

Ian

I agree.

The symptoms could be caused by any number of things.

In humans, symtpoms like those are caused by ruptured ear drums, inner ear infections and injuries which damage the vestibular system.

I once had a bubble of air trapped against my ear when I was diving in a lake and when it started to grow and press harder as I surfaced, I got the distinct inpression that my body was tilting and rotating even though the angle of the light told me differently.

If it is an infection, antibiotics should clear it up. Reptiles have incredibly resilient immune systems.

Best of luck.

Here is a pic of her laying around.

let me know what you find out cause i have a black pine thats doing weird things with his head and it sounds like the same thing hes about a year old